


hope is a dangerous thing to have

by Smartie_ya



Category: One Piece
Genre: AU where Law stays with the Donquixote Pirates and takes Corazon´s spot, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Corazon!Law, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2020-02-07
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:22:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21952141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smartie_ya/pseuds/Smartie_ya
Summary: In a world in which Law stays with the Donquixote Pirates and succeeds the title of "Corazon" his fate is still tied to the infamous Strawhat Captain who draws attention wherever he goes. In a spur-of-the-moment decision, the surgeon saves Luffy from imminent death and takes him to safety on the Island of Women - without his own captain´s permission. What starts as a thoughtless act of mercy towards a kid who has already suffered too much turns out to have consequences that Law couldn´t have predicted in his wildest dreams...
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy & Trafalgar D. Water Law
Comments: 43
Kudos: 102





	1. Chapter 1

Heart racing at a speed of 117 beats per minute, blood pressure of 90/60 mmHg, Tachypnoea, CGS score of 5 at best; all protective reflexes inactive in a state of unconsciousness – immediate intubation is necessary to prevent aspiration. All the information is readily accessible to Law with just a brief flick of his finger, the patient revealing all of it under the effect of his Scan without a chance to object.

The reasons for Luffy´s dire vital parameters immediately become apparent while he is gently floated down onto a stainless-steel operating table in the middle of the theatre. At least two litres of blood must have been lost to the clusterfuck of the Summit War, the young man being completely dehydrated and his heart beating frantically to keep all vital organs supplied with oxygen while his limbs and lips turn a ghostly shade of blue underneath the crusts of blood. Meanwhile a ruptured lung is not exactly helping the situation.

The wound that might have seemed most pressing to an uninformed bystander, a huge burn mark spanning across Luffy´s chest, is one of Law´s lesser concerns. What really matters, is to keep the kid´s circulation under control and to prevent a state of hypovolemic shock.

“Corazon! We are still under attack! W-what the hell are we supposed to do? “, Shachi´s panicked, cracking voice briefly distracts Law from his current focus, but instead of glancing up he merely shrugs his shoulders while he cleans his hands with a generous helping of disinfectant. “You´re asking me? Right now, I am as powerless as the rest of you. Just keep course and hope for the best. To be honest, if they´d **really** wanted to get us, we´d already be scattered across the ocean floor.”

Shachi tenses up at the sound of this dismissive remark. As usual, Corazon hardly seems to care about the very real danger he´s hurled himself into and even stays calm when the submarine all around him is shaking and roaring under the effort that its engines are putting in to get the crew away from the shores of Marineford.

“Urgh… fine, I´ll tell them to crank up the speed even more”, the subordinate concludes lamely, realizing that he´s just a third wheel in this room right now and that Law has no intention of focussing on anything or anyone but his patient.

While all hell seems to be breaking lose, machines and furniture almost toppling over from the submarine´s unsteady course, the surgeon manoeuvres through the operating room effortlessly, using his devil fruit ability to spread a surgical drape over his patient and slip into a clean set of scrubs and gloves.

“Bepo, I need two large venous catheters on him.  
Give him 10mg of Morphine… no, make it 20. We have to intubate immediately“, he starts giving orders to his assistant, who´s dressed in quite a similar fashion by now and quickly proceeds to execute his tasks with surprising skill considering the size of his glove-clad paws and his massive body in general.  
In a matter of minutes, the venous catheters are established and under the influence of a cocktail of painkillers and muscle relaxants Luffy is prepared for the intubation, which Law carries out with precision despite all the chaos around him.

“Alright, it´s in. Get me some O negative blood packs. We should have plenty in store“ – “Aye, Captain!“, Bepo barks back in a shrill voice, clearly stressed out by the whole situation, and skitters off to get the requested transfusions.  
“Now then… This should be a fun operation”, Law murmurs into the silence and moves over to Luffy´s torso, which is heaving and falling more evenly and slowly now, thanks to the artificial ventilation he´s hooked up to.

First on the list of priorities is the collapsed lung.  
Having disinfected the area, the surgeon teleports a brand-new scalpel into his hand. A small, bloodless incision is placed on the kid´s thoracic wall and widened by the doctor´s prying finger until he can feel the parietal pleura from within. Next comes the drain to help the lung expand, which is sewn into place within just a few more seconds. So far everything is going smoothly.

By now Bepo has also returned to the site, looking a little breathless while he hangs the blood packs up on a transfusion stand and hooks one of them up to Luffy´s blood stream.  
“It seems like the attacks have ceased… a-at least things have quieted down a bit…”, the bear mutters after a few moments of silence, checking Luffy´s vital parameters on the screen that displays every change in heart rate, oxygen saturation, blood pressure and so much more through the countless wires and sensors attached to every inch of free skin that Luffy has to offer.

“Ah, really? I didn´t even notice… well, good for us”, Law pretty much dismisses the input on their current status as the subject in front of him is far more interesting than any conversation Bepo might try to strike up to lighten the mood. Running another scan on his patient´s body now that his situation is a little more stable, the doctor counts down a number of other injuries which need to be taken care of. A ruptured spleen leaking blood into Luffy´s abdomen, a hematoma forming in his retroperitoneum, a torn ureter… but surprisingly not a single broken bone.

“Oh of course… he´s rubber, after all“  
Briefly laughing into his surgical mask, Law can´t help getting excited to finally open up the unconscious pirate and to get a first feel of the rubbery organs inside.

He can sense Bepo twitching beside him while he hands over the instruments needed for the surgery. Nothing stays hidden from Law as long as it happens within the boundaries of his Room, so every change in the mink´s breathing and heart rate is given away immediately.  
“I think I can handle the rest by myself from here on out“, Law states, pausing the scalpel just centimetres away from Luffy´s bare skin, but the bear hastily shakes his head instead of stepping away.  
“I- I´m alright. Besides, no surgeon should work without his assistant! And I could use the experience“, he adds, trying to sound tough through his obvious apprehension and bringing a smirk to his captain´s lips.  
Indeed… getting to operate on someone so close to the verge of death and with such an intriguing body structure on top of that is a rare opportunity which would be a crime to miss out on.

The team continues their work in almost complete silence, life support- and monitoring machines providing an eerie background music as internal bleedings are stopped and torn structures are meticulously reconnected. Hours pass and Law can´t even remember the last time when his medical expertise had been tested to such an extent as normally the Ope Ope no Mi allows him to finish operations within a fraction of the time that any regular surgeon would take.

As if to keep things interesting, Luffy´s blood pressure drops back to dangerous levels a couple of times, but thankfully a shot of Adrenaline is enough to pull him back in every instance without a need for more drastic measures.

By the time Law finally gets to close the cut along Luffy´s abdomen, he´s nearly forgotten that there still is another person requiring his help. Fortunately, Jimbei hasn´t taken nearly as much internal damage but sustained a number a nasty burn injuries instead; most likely caused by Akainu´s magma attacks, as Law assumes. Still, the doctor is relieved and grateful to finally dissolve his Room after teleporting both Jimbei and Luffy to the empty patient rooms nearby.

“Fuck… I´m glad this is over”, he mutters, pulling off his gloves and surgical mask, both feeling sticky and damp from sweat. Bepo immediately joins the action, tongue hanging out as he heckles in an attempt to cool down since the temperature inside the submarine has been continuously rising after it had gone into diving.

“Can we get back to the surface, Captain? The heat is killing me!”, he complains while they wash their hands in the sink nearby and Law responds with a brief nod that immediately lifts his assistant´s spirit. “Sure, we have been diving for hours. There´s no way that anyone is still tracking us”, he reasons, catching a glance of Bepo heading for the door when he turns his head. “Okay, I will tell the others to take us up! Thank you, Captain!”

The bear´s excited reaction draws a small laugh from Law, who finally allows himself to relax his aching shoulders and take in the silence of the now empty operation room.

 _The surgery was a full success. It was tough, but worth it. He will survive_ , he reassures himself, the pride in his work starting to outweigh his exhaustion again. He senses that the Submarine is beginning to rise and can´t help wondering where exactly his crew had taken them in the meantime, but before joining the others he decides to check on Luffy once more after all.

Cracking the joints of his aching fingers, he enters the correct patient room, which looks much smaller than it actually is because of all the equipment that had to be stuffed into it, arranged all around Luffy´s bed.

“Man, after all my hard work you still look like complete shit”, Law utters into the silence, crossing his arms before he slumps down onto a nearby chair.  
He knows that Luffy is quite a few years younger than him, but now he bears more resemblance to a hurt child than to a brave pirate captain who has gone through hell and back for the sake of his brother.

Thinking about Ace´s death is uncomfortable to Law… hits too close to home. But at the same time he feels like even he can´t fully understand what the other must have gone through, holding his dying brother in his arms. Knowing that even after all the sacrifices, he had been too weak to change anything.

“You´re one tough bastard, kid…”

The line is nothing but a whisper, but Law still takes a short glance behind himself to ensure that no one was eavesdropping. “I doubt that many others have ever dealt as much damage to the World Government in their entire lives as you have in one day. But I guess this is the end of the line for you, hm?”  
Tilting his head back to the front, Law examines his patient some more, as if trying to get a response from him just by listening close enough.

“Corazon!”

The sound of Penguin´s voice is so jarring that the Commander almost falls from his seat, immediately spinning around once more only to see his crew member ripping open the door.  
“What?!”, he snaps so aggressively that the other man almost stumbles back a few steps, swallowing the lump in his throat.

Doing his best to get to the point quicky, he stutteringly gives his report: “We have just gotten back to the surface and- we were sure that nobody followed us on the radar, but-… Boa Hancock is here!”

The following silence feels almost unreal and Law can´t help asking himself if this is some kind of immature joke, but Penguin´s expression seems too anxious for that, so he decides to take this information at face value for now.

“What the hell does that bitch want? Is she picking a fight?”, he demands to know and Penguin already starts heading back out onto the hallway, waving Law along.  
“N-not really… she´s demanding to see Straw Hat! Wasn´t she even fighting by his side during the war, earlier? Apparently, she´s been able to track us with her snake or-… something like that. Anyway, please come outside before she decides to turn us into stone one by one!”

The fact that Boa doesn´t seem to be aggressive per se is reassuring, but Law still feels a light nervousness building up in his chest. Operating for such a long time has drained his energy, both physically and mentally, so a conflict with the Pirate Empress is the last thing he could have asked for.

Finally arriving on deck, Law´s glance immediately meets Boa´s. Letting go of a starstruck pirate´s collar at once, she comes closer to the Commander instead, all while drilling into him with her beautiful yet piercing eyes.

“Where is my Luffy?”, she demands in a bossy tone of voice that makes the pirates all around shrink and step back, yet draws nothing but a raised eyebrow from the target of her inquiry.

“ **Your** Luffy?”, he responds in a doubtful tone, but the woman´s hard expression keeps Law from withholding a proper answer from her any longer. “Straw Hat is downstairs, recovering from his surgery. He still needs a lot of rest, but he´s out of the red. For now.”

This answer seems to reassure Boa to some degree, but she restrains herself from letting down her guard just yet.

“So you really saved him…? Why? Are you a friend of his?”

“Hey, lay off already, woman! Shouldn´t you thank him for what he did, first?” – “Yeah, who do you think you are, just waltzing on here and demanding answers? What´s with the interrogation??”, Shachi and Penguin suddenly holler, feeling a little braver in their Commander´s presence, but this time it is Law´s piercing stare that shuts both of them up before Boa can even muster a reaction.

“No, I´m not his friend. In fact, I´ve only met him once before, but I have my own reasons for sympathizing with Straw Hat. That´s all I have to say on the matter”, he concludes with a confident smile, refusing to let himself be intimidated by the Shichibukai. He knows that he has the upper hand in this situation, even if the Pirate Empress is no easy person to reason with, from what he can tell so far.

“Fine. I thank you for treating Luffy…”, Boa presses out reluctantly, her eyes still narrow and unyielding in their fixation on Law. “But you still are Doflamingo´s lapdog. I don´t trust you with keeping him any longer, so hand him over!”, she suddenly states, raising her chin some more to give the other pirate a condescending glance.

“Oh, you want me to hand him over to you? Then I must assume that Amazon Lily is already in possession of the high-end technology and medicine needed to keep this guy alive for the next couple of days?”

Law knows that Boa won´t have a satisfying answer to that and already prepares for launching the next verbal attack, but a short wave of dizziness forces him to grab the door frame that leads out onto the deck of his submarine. Penguin who´s still standing nearby extends an arm towards the other by reflex, but the doctor immediately straightens his back and deflects the helping hand, refusing to show any further signs of weakness.

Taking a deep breath, he continues to speak: “Listen up… Straw Hat just barely cheated death today and both his physical and mental states are highly precarious. So do me a favour and stop acting like a naïve school girl in love, will you?”

That line knocks the breath out of Boa´s lungs and for several seconds she doesn´t seem to know how to react, simply staring at her opponent in disbelief and biting the inside of her cheek. She clearly isn´t used to hearing such mockeries, especially coming from a male, so she has no time to recover from the insult before Law picks up the word once again: “If he is to survive, you will have to leave him to me, at least for the next couple of days”

The Donquixote Pirates standing around the two opponents observe the rather one-sided exchange in awe, noone daring to interject anymore. Even though the look in Law´s eyes gives away his exhaustion and his scrubs are covered in bloodstains from the recent surgeries, he still manages to emit a confidence and resolve that even Boa Hancock can´t force into submission.

“However… I don´t care where Straw Hat spends the rest of his recovery, so if you were to insist on it, I´d have no issues with taking him to Amazon Lily. After all, that island is a safe haven from the reach of the World Government, isn´t it?”

“Take you to Amazon Lily?! Are you joking? I- I won´t let a bunch of **men** into my kingdom!”, Boa hisses back, nearly spitting out the word “men” when she utters it, but even so, Law´s subordinates perk up and watch with wild eyes now that such a chance has suddenly opened itself up to them.

“Well, it was merely an offer. Of course I can also drop him off on a different island, if this is what you´d prefer”, Law delivers the next blow after an amused snort, knowing that Boa wouldn´t be able to counter him with any sensible arguments, but just as he draws the next breath for another remark, she cuts him off with a decisive hand gesture.

“Fine! You and your crew shall be tolerated for the duration necessary for Luffy´s recovery. However, you will stay restricted to a designated area and if any of you so much as take a step outside those boundaries, I won´t show any mercy.”  
By now she´s obviously fed up with Law´s cocky behaviour, so the young pirate simply accepts the compromise with an amiable “very well” instead of teasing her any further.

“You came here on that Marine ship, didn´t you?”, he asks, gesturing in the direction of the vessel that easily towers above the small submarine. “We can give you a lift from here on out”, he then suggests, but Boa has already slipped back into her usual arrogant persona, pulling a face at the sound of that idea.  
“No thank you… I´d rather wait for my Kuja pirates to arrive and use their ship. We will safely escort you to Amazon Lily.”

“Sounds fair enough. Everything is settled in that case, isn´t it? If you´d excuse me…”  
Without any further courtesies, Law turns around on his heels and enters the inside of his submarine. He can´t keep up his act for much longer and his body yearns for at least a couple hours of sleep, but as things are now he can´t afford to let his guard down just yet.

_The things I do for your sake, Straw Hat… I hope you are grateful to me._

***

It is the fourth day since Law and his crew have landed on Amazon Lily and slowly but surely things are starting to drag on. As Boa Hancock had warned them, their allotted area is limited to a small, rocky bay by the shore of the island and the only courtesy that the Kuja warriors grant them, is the delivery of daily meals - a chance that Law´s subordinates never fail to use for striking up a conversation with the beautiful amazons.

Jimbei has already been awake for two days now and his expressions of gratitude towards Law far surpass those of Boa, which quickly made the pirates feel more sympathetic towards the fishman, who also appreciates the company and distraction from the one topic that constantly lingers on his mind: Luffy.

By now the young captain´s condition has stabilized and his wounds are healing at a good pace, but despite the fact that Law has stopped supplying him with anaesthetics and drastically reduced his dose of painkillers, he still hasn´t shown any signs of waking up.

“At this point I´m starting to question if it really was such a good idea to save him. Maybe he´ll stay in a permanent coma and I´ll have to idly sit around this island until Boa finally lets me switch off the machines”, Law grumbles in discontent, earning a soft bump to his side from Bepo, who is sitting nearby and slurping out the inside of his soup bowl. The pair has made themselves comfortable on a couple of boulders, separate from the rest of the crew who enjoy their meal in a noisy company a few metres away.

“You know he won´t stay in a coma. Didn´t you say yourself that his brain didn´t sustain any damage because of his thick rubber skull? Just give him a little more time”, he adds reassuringly, but Law merely rolls his eyes in response.

He knows that physically Luffy should be able to wake up anytime, but he doesn´t have much experience with mental trauma and how it can influence a person´s recovery. At the end of the day he would still be able to try and switch off the kid´s artificial ventilation, whether he liked that or not. Maybe this would be the kick he still needed to finally regain his senses… or he would simply lay there, slowly turning blue as his reflexes would fail him.

However, this isn´t the only issue on Law´s mind, as to his surprise he still hasn´t been contacted by Doflamingo. There is no way that his boss believes him to be dead, so why doesn´t he call? Was Law´s spur-of-the-moment decision to save Luffy an act that he will have to pay for, now? The more he thinks about it, the more impatient and uneasy he becomes. Perhaps he should make the call himself and explain the situation. Certainly, Doflamingo has to agree that it would have been a waste to let this kid-

A sudden scream, accompanied by the screeching of metal and shattering of glass rips Law from this thought process before he can finish it, and every pirate who´d been idly chatting up to this point suddenly rises from their seats, reaching for their weapons.

“What the hell was that?!” - ”I.. think it came from the submarine!” - “Are we being attacked?”  
While his subordinates are still arguing with each other, the truth dawns upon Law in a matter of moments and he stands up to move between his men and the pink submarine by the shore, ready to face whatever would await him next.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAACEEEEEEEE”, another desperate roar reaches the group before the door of the ship finally bursts open, a small bandaged figure leaping out onto deck.

“Straw Hat!”, some of the pirates yell, but the first one to move is Jimbei, passing Law with his eyes firmly glued onto the kid who had worried him for days in a row. “Luffy-kun! You are awake!”, he exclaims, but it doesn´t seem to reach the young man, who keeps shifting his gaze in different directions in an attempt to grasp the situation.

“He´s probably delirious and can´t understand what´s going on. Don´t approach him too quickly”, Law states his warning, one hand reaching for the scalpels that are stored on the inner lining of his feather coat, but Jimbei just shoots him a judgemental glance.

“The boy must be in so much pain… do you seriously expect me to treat him like a dangerous animal?”

Before the conversation can take a turn for the worse, a rubber arm parts the air between the two and moments later Straw Hat Luffy himself is rocketed onto the shore, staring at the people around him with wild eyes.

“Where is Ace?! I need to see him!!”, he yells again, his voice dry and hoarse from the time he spent with a tube in his throat. Now that Law can see him up close, he notices small bleedings from the other´s arms where he had ripped out the venous catheters, but thankfully the bandages themselves still look clean, meaning that Luffy´s wounds probably haven´t reopened yet.

“Straw Hat, I know that this is tough for you right now, but you need to settle down. Your body is still-”

Before he can finish his sentence, the surgeon is forced to dodge a fist that the rubber man hurls at him and he can hear someone else getting knocked out in his stead, judging by the pained groan that resounds behind his back.

“Who are you?! Stop talking nonsense and bring me to Ace!!”

 _Fuck, there really is no reasoning with him. He´s in complete denial_ , Law realizes, recognizing an almost mad expression in Luffy´s hazy eyes. “We need to restrain and sedate him”, he orders in a decisive tone and exchanges a brief glance with Bepo, who responds to his boss with a quick nod.

“Hold him down, guys!” The whole bunch of twenty or so men and one polar bear mink start charging at Luffy to catch the still weakened pirate, but to everyone´s surprise he is much faster and agile than would have to be expected of someone who just woke up from 4 days of immobilization.

Meanwhile Law doesn´t lose any time and expands his room in order to teleport right into his submarine, finding a trail of chaos that Luffy has left in his wake.

“God damn it… he even broke our door. I should have known that this would happen”, he curses under his breath while he enters the infirmary and picks out a sedative to draw it up into a syringe, but before he teleports back to the shore, something yellow and red catches his attention: the straw hat.

The old, tattered thing has been sitting on the table of the infirmary for days now, untouched, and Law grabs it on a whim before be finally makes the switch back to the island.

What he´s met with now, is truly baffling, considering that the whole action of getting a sedative has taken 30 seconds of time at best. Half of his crew is knocked out on the ground, rubbing their bruises and cursing, while the other half is trying to help up their comrades.

“Where the hell is he?!”, the surgeon exclaims in irritation, since Luffy is nowhere to be seen, but when he catches a glance of Jimbei running into the forest, he can piece things together without any further hints.

“What the hell… this guy is just unbelievable…” Sighing in exasperation, he lets himself drop down onto one of the rocks, moody and in no spirit to chase after his escaped patient.

“It´s not my problem if he reopens his fucking wounds and bleeds to death. God, what a waste of my time!”, he vents to noone in particular, piercing the straw hat he still held with an angry stare.

“Hey, come on… you really want him to die after all the effort you put in? Doesn´t sound very likely to me”, Shachi comments after he had gotten up from the ground and comes closer, dusting off his own hat.

“I don´t care.”

“Well, whatever you say… I suppose we can leave this place now that he´s out of his unconsciousness then, hm?”, the redhead adds, adjusting his casquette.

That is actually a pretty accurate statement, as Law quickly realizes and he feels at least a little less annoyed at the thought of getting away from the laughably tiny area that Boa has allotted to him and his crew. “You´re right… only problem is: Straw Hat busted our door to bits, so I suppose we will be sailing back to Sabaody and getting our submarine fixed before we can return to the New World.”

“Hmmm, that really is annoying. Not that I mind too much, Sabaody is a fun place”, Shachi replies with a shrug of his shoulders, but Law remains silent after that statement.

He can´t see anything “fun” about a that hell-hole.

 _Thankfully this might be the last time I have to visit that place_ , Law thinks and finally gets up onto his legs again before placing the straw hat onto the ground and weighing it down with a few rocks to make sure that it wouldn´t be blown away with the wind.

Judging by the fact that that weird clown had flown out one more time just to deliver it to him before the submarine went into diving told Law that this hat is more than just an accessory to Luffy.

“Let´s get out of here, guys. I have faith that Jimbei will be able to keep him under control, so our work here is done. Thank you all for your patience”, he addresses his crew, who have all gotten up by now and grin at their Commander.

“Come on, Corazon, we wouldn´t say no to a little vacation on the Island of Women, right? Even though we didn´t get to see that many ladies, after all”, someone remarks, earning a brief round of laughter from his comrades.

“Besides, the women of Dressrosa are still the best! I honestly can´t wait to get home”, another guy adds while the group heads towards the cliff, waiting for Law to carry them over.

The devil fruit user expands his Room, encompassing everyone in it, and a moment later the whole crew is switched to the deck of the submarine. The newer members, who still aren´t used to this means of transportation, stumble a couple of steps, while more experienced men are completely unbothered by the action and head off to their respective tasks.

“Geesh, Straw Hat really dealt some damage…”, Bepo grunts and inspects the busted steel door that lies on the wooden planks of the deck.  
“We definitely can´t dive like that!” - “Well, you should be rather happy about that, shouldn´t you? I know how much you hate being underwater”, Law comments back while a couple of mechanics pick up the door to at least try and attach it to its hinges, but it quickly becomes apparent that it is too deformed to fit as it is.

“What about Straw Hat? Are you sure that we shouldn´t wait for him to come back?”, Bepo asks next, a frown remaining on his face. During the past days he has been the one to most frequently care for the patient, changing his bandages and checking his condition, so Law can understand the mink´s concern.

“He will be alright. I´m certain that he will heal up just fine under Boa´s supervision… well, his body, at least.”  
Bepo´s frown deepens even more at the sound of that, but ultimately he agrees with his boss and releases a faint sigh.

“Still, I wish there was something we could do! It isn´t fair that Straw Hat-”

Before he can finish his sentence, a familiar ring interrupts the two and both Bepo and Law shift their glance at the source of the sound: the Den Den Mushi in Law´s feather coat´s pocket.

“... please excuse me”, Law cuts the conversation short and reaches for the small snail before he expands his Room once more to teleport straight into his personal cabin.  
This must be the call he´s been waiting for all this time. Finally.  
Having taken a long breath he lifts the speaker and picks up the word:

“Hello, Doffy.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Hello, Doffy.”

Several moments pass without a response and for a split-second Law can´t help wondering if he jumped the gun too quickly, but sure enough: a familiar chuckle finally greets him from the other side of the line. “So you are still alive after all, Corazon. Not that I expected anything less of you”, Doflamingo greets him, his tone painting a vivid image of the Shichibukai´s grin in front of Law´s inner eye.

Going by his tone he can´t sense too much wrath or danger yet, but he still reminds himself to play it safe. At the end of the day it is unquestionable that Doflamingo´s right hand man snatching away Straw Hat Luffy right in front of the Admirals´ eyes AND on a public live broadcast on top of it must have put the captain of the Donquixote Pirates in a rather uncomfortable position. “Mind telling me where you are at the moment?”, Doflamingo speaks up again, since his conversation partner has remained silent.

“I´m currently on my way back to Sabaody. The submarine sustained some damage during our escape, so we´ll need to get a few repairs done before we can return to the New World”, Law replies without missing a heartbeat, his lie about the cause of the damage rolling off his tongue effortlessly as he takes a seat at his desk and creates a little Room in front of himself, letting some pens swirl around inside of it.  
  
“Is that so? And Straw Hat?” - “... we left him behind on Amazon Lily. He only just regained consciousness, so we´re literally heading out right this moment”, Law states in a matter-of-fact tone once again, stacking and sorting the pens in different ways while he awaits Doflamingo´s response. Something tells him that his captain probably didn´t want the guy to survive, but to his surprise he´s merely met with a genuine fit of laughter. “Boa Hancock let all of you onto her island just for the sake of that kid? Wow, that´s just priceless! I suppose she will remember this favour she owes you from now on, hm? I can´t wait to meet her at the next council”, the Shichibukai comments in amusement while Law´s Den Den Mushi replicates his joyful expression.

“Well, I don´t know if we can really count on her to return the favour”, Law counters, briefly wondering if Doflamingo would ever get wind of him calling Boa a bitch in front of his subordinate. “She doesn´t seem to like me very much. And her opinion of you probably isn´t the best, either. In any case, I also didn´t expect her to let us stay but I suppose that´s just a testimony to how much Straw Hat managed to wrap her around his little finger. Not that I have the faintest idea how he did that”, he talks on for a while longer, now letting the pens in his Room switch places with each other.  
  
“She´s always been an eccentric woman, so I find this development to be strangely fitting”, Doflamingo gives his input, another quiet chuckle following that line. “Even if we don´t gain anything from her, at least you managed to save Straw Hat, hm? I mean, if anyone would have been able to pull that off, it had to be you. Although…”, Doflamingo picks up just as cheerfully as before, when suddenly his tone shifts:  
  
“I still don´t get why the hell you did that.”  
  
The temperature in the cabin seems to drop by a couple of degrees and Law slips, letting the pens that had been carefreely swirling around in his Room until now clatter onto the wooden surface. Realizing that he should get more serious, he releases the blueish sphere and properly focuses on the conversation. “Do you even realize what kind of implications this has for all of us? Straw Hat has done nothing but stirred up chaos on the Grand Line for the past half year or so, taking down Crocodile and Moria on his path, not to mention the entire Enies Lobby incident”, Doflamingo continues in a voice dripping with annoyance, not giving the other any chance to explain himself yet, but Law could still swear that´s there´s a hint of schadenfreude hidden in his captain´s voice as well.  
“He is a wanted criminal of the Word Government who even accomplished the unprecedented feat of getting in and out of Impel Down alive AND busting out a number of big names in the process. His father is Monkey D. Dragon, for God´s sake!”  
  
Now instead of Doflamingo´s pearly white smile Law can only think of the pulsating vein that pops up on his forehead anytime he enters a fit of rage and the surgeon briefly rolls his eyes. _Here we go again._  
  
“Do you have any idea how much negotiation I had to sit through because of your reckless and ridiculous action?! Not only that, but they even forced me to hunt down Moria and give him the rest, on top of that, to ´prove my loyalty´ to them...” It doesn´t happen very often that the Shichibukai loses his temper like this, but Law can understand the frustration quite well, having had to deal with bossy Marines who thought they had some kind of authority over him several times himself. Still, he doesn´t exactly feel remorse for what he´s done. After all, it´s Doflamingo´s own stupid decision to remain in a position that Law considered almost humiliating for a self-respecting pirate to be in. Nevertheless, he bites back any sarcastic remarks, sensing that pushing his luck too far might not be the wisest idea right now.  
“...come on. They still let you keep your title, didn´t they? And I bet they were satisfied with some promise about how you´ll punish me for my audacity or whatever. It´s not that big of a deal. Just because you work with the Marines, that doesn´t mean we have to abide by every single one of their rules. We are still pirates”, he calmly states his opinion, tightening his grip on the speaker of his Den Den Mushi.  
  
“Law”, Doflamingo suddenly addresses the young man with his first name, his voice sounding as sharp as one of the doctor´s scalpels. “I know how much you despise the World Government, trust me. But these childish rebellions of yours are starting to truly get on my nerves. You are 24 years old now, yet you still act like a snotty brat. Don´t you understand how futile this kind of nonsense is? Showing the middle finger to the Government might feel good in the moment, but does nothing but harm us in the long run. Remember where your loyalties lie.”  
  
Enduring the reprimand in stubborn silence, Law can´t deny that the rational part of his brain agrees on all of these points. His life belongs to Doflamingo and Doflamingo alone. He can´t afford to use it like a poker chip on a whim, let alone the power of the Ope Ope no Mi. Releasing a sigh, he decides to give in at last and takes another breath before answering: “I´m sorry, Doffy. I acted out of line and I know that. I´ll accept whatever consequences this has for me”, he says, his tone sounding meek on a surface level, but at the same time it's a little too flat to come across as entirely genuine.  
  
However Doflamingo either misses this nuance or chooses to willfully ignore it, perhaps getting tired of having this discussion. “Good… I knew that you´d come to understand. After all you are a smart boy, aren´t you?”, he says, the patronizing tone causing Law´s frown to deepen, but in the end the young pirate still chooses to overlook this. “Anyway… I took care of the issue on Sabaody as you requested. Our affiliation with Disco is now officially passé”, he changes the topic and gazes outside the bull´s-eye in front of him, watching the still water surface of the Calm Belt that the submarine is currently making its way through.  
  
“Ah, right. I almost forgot this over the recent events, to be honest. But well done”, Doflamingo shortly replies, accepting the new direction of their conversation. “How soon do you expect to be back in Dressrosa?” - “Most likely within one or... one and a half weeks. I won´t waste any time here in Paradise, don´t worry. The past few days have already been boring enough”, Law promises, which definitely is the truth. He could also use some time away from his crew, maybe carrying out a solo mission again. Spending so much time on a stuffy little submarine together with all these loud and carefree people is something that drains his patience and energy more than he tries to let on.  
  
“Very well. I will be waiting for your return in that case, Corazon. No more detours, understood?”  
  
“Yes, Doffy.”  
  
“See you home, then.”  
  
The sound the speaker being put down on the other end of the line allows Law to breathe a sigh of relief and he follows suit in the same fashion as the snail on his desk goes back to sleep. Only now does he notice the stiffness in his shoulder muscles and the slight headache that has started throbbing in the back of his head over the course of the phone call. Flexing his jaw for a moment, he heads over to his bed and lets himself drop down onto the mattress with a muffled grunt, the indignation inside him slowly bubbling to the surface again, now that he doesn´t have to restrain himself anymore.  
  
“Childish my ass”, Law snorts. “At least I´m not licking the boots of the World Government to collect sympathy points. What a fucking joke…”, he growls into the silence and crosses the arms underneath his head as he grants himself a few minutes of rest.  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
 _What a horrible family tradition… I´d hate it if it weren´t so damn amusing at the same time,_ Law thinks, sipping on his coffee and lazily panning his gaze over the crazy bunch around the large round table that he´s seated at. It´s an early Sunday morning and there is only one thing that this can mean: the closest circle of the Donquixote family comes together for breakfast in the huge dining room of the Royal Palace. Half of the officials are still yawning and dressed in pajamas, wearing warm slippers against the cold tiles; even Law´s hair is still messy and wild while the young man himself enjoys the comfort of an oversized hoodie.  
Almost everyone is here; the only ones who seem to be missing this time around are Vergo and Monet, both off on missions outside of Dressrosa, so the company is lively and loud, chatting about mundane topics and arguing over basically nothing.  
  
“Hey Law, can you pass me the scrambled eggs?” He is briefly distracted by the request and his eyes dart over to Buffalo before he wordlessly expands his room and sends the requested bowl across the table. “Thanks!”, Buffalo still calls out and starts loading his plate up with food while Law just picks up his coffee again.  
  
“My my, Law, are you not going to eat anything again?”, Jora, who is sitting on Law´s right side in a bathrobe and with multi-colored curlers still stuck in her hair, is now the next one to address him, examining his almost empty plate with a raised eyebrow. “No wonder you´re so skinny! You even look like you lost weight while you were gone!”, she adds in an overbearing, motherly tone, already lifting up a platter of sausages to try and force some of them onto the young man.  
“You know I don´t do breakfast”, he simply deflects her fussing and shields his plate from her assault, while Baby 5 lets out a chuckle from the seat on his left. Unlike most others, she already put on a nice dress and did her make-up, looking prim and proper as always.  
  
“You´re just picky because your favourite food isn´t on the table, aren´t you? You´re still such a child”, she teases him.  
“How about you mind your own damn business, Baby 5? Do you want me to comment on your eating habits? Or your weight?”, Law shoots back, giving his mug a refill and staring down the young woman whose cheeks redden a hint from Law´s remark.  
  
“In fact, is it just me or does this dress look a bit tighter on you than before?-”  
  
“Kids, kids! Do you really need to start fighting first thing in the morning?”, Diamante suddenly cuts in between them with a laugh, preventing the banter from getting out of hand. “Shouldn´t you be nicer to your brother, now that he´s finally back? He´s been off to Paradise for quite a while after all, hm?” – “Oh please, as if three weeks would make me miss that jerk. I wish he´d stayed away for much longer”, Baby 5 counters flippantly and takes a bite out of an apple, shooting Law a last warning glare.  
  
“Could you tone it down a bit, you brats?”  
  
The reprimand comes from the opposite end of the table where Doflamingo sits leaned back in his chair while browsing the newspaper. The large pages hide his face entirely, but Law can still hear the grin in his tone. Even now that the three former kids are fully grown adults, Doflamingo and other old members still like to talk down to them like this, which irks Law a bit underneath his calm facade. The whole ´family´ act is ridiculous anyway, especially since nobody here would truly stand up for one another in a meaningful way. It's all just a shallow act that would crumble without Doflamingo´s authority. Even after spending half his life around Buffalo and Baby 5, Law could never call them his siblings in earnest. A brotherhood like Straw Hat´s and Fire Fist´s, who were willing to die for each other without sharing a single drop of blood, is completely unimaginable to him. Same goes for Jora, who acts like their surrogate mother, Diamante who scolds them for acting childishly or even Dellinger, the youngest member of the family at the tender age of 14. All of it reeks of theatre, nothing about this is real.  
  
Even so, Law doesn´t really see any better alternative to this twisted crew that has raised him and even though he can´t stand most of them, he knows that he fits right in. These are the people who are willing to see the world burn and who will lay down their lives for their captain´s goal.  
  
Suddenly, another one of Doflamingo´s laughs makes him snap back to reality and Law´s golden eyes focus on his captain who has stuck his nose even further into the newspaper in front of him.  
  
“No way… is this some kind of joke? Fufufufufu…”  
  
“What is it?”, Law asks, his eyes narrowing a little as he waits for Doflamingo to finally enlighten the rest of them. A few other officials have interrupted their own conversations and glance up at their captain, curious to hear what´s so funny as well.  
  
“It´s Straw Hat. Just over 2 weeks have passed since Marineford and this kid is already making it to the headlines again!” - “What?! That´s impossible-”, Law utters and before Doflamingo has a chance to say anything else on the matter, the newspaper is teleported out of his hands and right into Law´s, whose eyes widen to the size of platters when he sees Luffy´s photo plastered over a large fraction of the page. For several moments he is too distracted by the solemn expression on Lufffy´s face while he presses his infamous straw hat against his chest in a gesture of respect to even read the headline above the article, but finally he manages to shift his attention to the text itself.  
Quickly scanning it for the most important information he doesn´t even mind that more and more other crew members lean over his shoulder to read along.  
  
“On the 15th of August, Straw Hat Luffy makes his unexpected return to Marineford… circles the island on a stolen ship… ´Dark King´ Silvers Rayleigh and former Shichibukai Jimbei… 16 rings of the Ox Bell…”  
Mumbling to himself, Law can hear the blood rushing in his ears as the realization begins to dawn upon him. Straw Hat Luffy is back on his feet and baring his teeth at the marines again. Just two weeks after almost bleeding to death in a war. Just two weeks after losing perhaps the most important person in his life.  
He can´t quite put a finger on what this revelation makes him feel, but for now he decides to settle on… astonishment.  
  
“Didn´t you claim that he was too broken to ever recover from that blow?”, Buffalo´s annoying voice asks right next to Law´s right ear, making the doctor turn his head to give the other a sidewards glance. “Huh. Guess even I can be wrong every once in a while”, he replies flatly before shifting his attention back to Luffy´s photo.  
He´s still covered in bandages, but there´s less of them than before, so clearly someone must have been changing them and tending to the kid´s wounds. But that´s not the only difference. Something is written on his arm. _3D2Y? What is that supposed to mean?_ he wonders, his forehead scrunching up as he squints at the tiny detail.  
The first two symbols are crossed out and Law knows for sure that they weren´t there when he took care of Luffy in his operating room.  
  
“What could the ringing of the Ox Bell even mean?”, Jora speaks up, tilting her head in contemplation, while Lao G quickly picks up on the question: “The Ox Bell is a sacred object! This clearly is supposed to be a declaration of war against the Government!”  
  
Law just barely pays attention to the discussion that ensues behind him, as he still wonders about the meaning of the tattoo, and he doesn´t resist when the newspaper is ripped out of his hands, being passed on to the next curious family member. Instead his gaze falls back on Doflamingo who examines him with a wide grin. “Looks like you took a little too much care of him, didn´t you, Corazon?”  
  
“I couldn´t have done it without your help”, Law promptly shoots back, smiling at the other across the table. “Aren´t you proud of how far I have come with my devil fruit?”, he adds and leans back in his chair, keeping an unblinking stare on his captain.  
  
“You know yourself that I didn´t give you your power so you can go around saving strangers on a whim”, Doflamingo states, his earlier smile slipping at the sound of that cocky answer. “Well, perhaps I shouldn´t be so surprised about Straw Hat´s recovery. Looks like your kind is incredibly resilient, hm? You also stood back up after something that would have killed any normal child´s will to live.”  
  
Law pauses after this remark, not really knowing what to say in response. At this point his own past is rarely brought up anymore, mostly since he avoids talking about it himself. Nevertheless, he can´t deny that Doflamingo has a point. He lost everything at the age of 10 after all.  
  


  
  
***  
  
  
  
Law was only 10 years old when he strapped grenades to his body and looked Doflamingo dead in the eye while he threatened to kill him if he didn´t let him join his crew. Doflamingo merely smiled and accepted the deal. Just one look at the boy and he knew that a raw diamond had fallen into his hands.  
  
  
  
At the age of 11 Law had read countless medical books, learning more and more about the human body each day. Baby 5 and Buffalo often asked him to come out and play with them, but the kid always refused. He didn´t have any time to waste. If he didn´t practice fighting with Lao G, Diamante or Gladius, he soaked up knowledge in the futile hope of finding a cure.  
  
  
  
Half a year later he killed his first enemy. It was surprisingly easy, even a puny child like him could do it as long as he knew where to strike. The marine soldier screamed in agony as blood gushed through the fingers he pressed against the side of his neck and Law couldn´t help laughing when he finally collapsed on the ground, still bleeding out and no longer capable of fighting back. This was what he´d been training for.  
  
  
  
Law was 12 years old when he finally started to feel that his time was running out. He had to take breaks during training more and more often, his joints and lungs burning like they´d been set on fire. Eventually his teachers refused to continue working with him. It felt like a nail had just been hammered into his coffin.  
  
  
  
He was mostly bed-ridden when Doflamingo came into Law´s room to give the boy some shocking news. He couldn´t believe that Corazon, Doffy´s own brother, had been a traitor all along, feeding their plans and hideouts to the marines. It was a relief to hear that the rat had been taken care of, but it still left a lasting impression on the boy. If even Doflamingo´s own brother could turn out to be a traitor, was there anyone he could trust?

  
  
Finally, Law was just a few weeks away from turning thirteen when his seemingly unchangeable fate was turned around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are nearing the most crucial turning points in Law´s past that shaped him into the man that he is today.  
> The Ope Ope no Mi is a blessing, but as everything good in life it comes at a price...
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the story´s continuation!


	3. Chapter 3

When Law was no longer able to leave his bedroom anymore, Buffalo and Baby 5 still came to visit him every now and again, trying to cheer him up with games or sweets, but most of the time Law just pretended to be asleep or straight-up told them to get out. He didn´t want any sympathy from them.

From the day that he joined the crew, he never let anyone close, knowing very well that his days were counted. Of course deep down he had kept up a glimmer of hope, believing that miracles could happen on the Grand Line, but by now even this little flame had been snuffed out by the symptoms that kept him chained to his bed.

In the end all his work and persistence had amounted to nothing, the few dead marines he had to his name feeling meaningless next to the mountain of corpses left behind in his ruined hometown. Just like his family, he would die a victim of the World Government, powerless.

A faint sigh was enough to trigger another coughing fit in him that lasted for almost half a minute, painfully shaking Law´s entire body, and by the time he was able to calm down again, he noticed that someone had entered his room.

“Doffy”, he muttered at his captain´s sight, his eyes widening.

“What are you doing here? In the mood to visit a dying child?”, he asked and pulled the blanket up to his chin, feeling somewhat embarrassed to be seen like this.

“Heh, I thought you´d be happier about having some company, but even at a time like this you´re being a brat”, Doflamingo replied, without any bite in his voice, pulling up a chair to Law´s bedside and taking a seat.

At this point the kid was hardly more than bones and skin, the latter bearing so many white patches that the remaining spots of darker color seemed like the odd ones out. Nevertheless, Law´s golden eyes were still sharp, staring at Doflamingo from the depth of their sockets.

“Well, you never visit me just out of the kindness of your heart. You always have some message for me, at least. So what is it this time?”, Law insisted, earning a brief laugh in response.

“You are a smart kid, I´ll give you that”

Knowing that he didn´t need to beat around the bush, Doflamingo pulled a square box out of his coat pocket, holding it out in front of Law, and before the kid could ask what it was, he opened the lid on top to produce a red, heart shaped fruit from inside the container.

“A devil fruit?”, Law uttered in surprise, curiously examining it for a few moments before he shifted his attention back to Doflamingo, awaiting a further explanation.

“This isn´t just any devil fruit, Law, it´s your salvation”, the man said in a tone heavy with meaning while a grin spread on his face. “This is the Ope Ope no Mi, which we just obtained a few days ago. Have you heard of it?”, he then asked, receiving merely a headshake in response.

“Let me explain, then. With this fruit´s power a skilled user can perform miraculous operations, healing diseases that nobody else could cure”, Doflamingo stated, chuckling at the sound of Law´s sharp inhale. “After all the time you spent studying medicine you are the perfect candidate to receive it. And once you figure out how to use it, you can cure yourself of your poisoning. Aren´t you happy?”

Indeed, Law´s heart was fluttering in his chest and he briefly pinched his arm underneath his blanket, making sure that this wasn´t just a fever-dream. But even when it started hurting like hell Doflamingo and the miraculous fruit were still quite clearly in front of him.

Even so, something held him back from rejoicing just yet - there was something in his captain´s expression that he couldn´t name, but that kept him from reaching for the Ope Ope no Mi unprompted.

“This seems too good to be true, if I´m being honest”, he muttered in a reserved tone. “But you haven´t told me everything yet, have you? What´s the catch?”, he then asked, his eyes narrowing.

Amused by Law´s keen perception, Doflamingo suppressed another laugh.

“Quite cynical, are we?”, be briefly remarked.

“But you´re right, this power will come at a certain cost. What few people know, is that the user of this fruit can perform the so-called ´Immortality Operation´, granting another person eternal youth. But it can only be done once, at the cost of the devil fruit user´s own life.

I´m sure that you can guess the condition that´s tied to you getting it, hm?”

Indeed, Law pieced it together the moment that Doflamingo enlightened him about this special ability.

But even if anyone else would have been taken aback by this, contemplating whether or not this deal with the devil was worth it, the kid extended his hand without a moment of hesitation.

“I´ll do it. I will grant you the operation whenever you demand it, no questions asked. If this gives me the chance to live any amount of years longer, I´ll take it. And besides, helping you become Pirate King will serve my goals just as much as yours.”

Satisfied with this promise, Doflamingo took the boy´s small hand and shook it to seal their deal. From the day that he´d laid his eyes on Law, he had known that picking him up would eventually pay off.

Finally, Law was handed the Ope Ope no Mi and without a second of delay he took a big bite out of the red pod, gulping it down almost without chewing, but the repulsive flavour - bitter and sour all at once - brought on another coughing fit that nearly made the kid spew it out again.

With a disgusted expression he already reopened his mouth to keep eating it, but Doflamingo held him back, grabbing his arm. “One bite is more than enough, Law.”

“Really…? I dont feel any different”, the kid replied with a confused frown on his face, although he was more than happy with not having to finish the devil fruit.

“Don´t worry. You´ll probably need some time to figure out how it works, but that´s normal”, Doflamingo assured him, taking the now useless fruit back and placing it in its box.

“Supposedly, the user can create a certain “Operation Room” controlling everything within it. Try to focus on something like that”, he suggested next.

“Okay…”

Still looking rather unsure about all of this, Law stared at his palm and tried to imagine what his captain had just told him about. An Operation Room. It sounded rather abstract, after all Doflamingo certainly didn´t mean an actual theatre stocked with machines and an operating table. Still, somehow he liked to think of it as such.

A space where he knew the placement and use of every tool, a space where his patient lay unconscious in front of him, with no say in anything that would happen to them from now on. This was the kind of power Law craved to feel.

Suddenly, a light-blue sphere started flickering around his hand, still weak and fragile like the wingbeat of a butterfly, but it was enough to draw a thrilled yelp from the kid, who tried to keep the Room up for a little longer, but this excitement seemed to have broken the spell as the sphere quickly faded away again.

“Did you see that? It worked! I have the power!”, Law still triumphed, shifting his gaze at Doflamingo, who also looked satisfied with the result.

“Of course you have it. Now make sure to practice well, hm? Unfortunately I can´t give you any advice on how to use it, but I think you´ll be able to figure it out. After all, I chose you for a reason, Law”  
With that line Doflamingo gave the kid a pat on the shoulder and rose from his chair.  
“Let us know if you need any tools or if you get hungry. We´ll have to quickly get you back to good health”, he said and left the room.

Law merely gave him an absent-minded nod, too steamrolled by everything that had just happened. He was going to live. He didn´t have to die as a puny child who´d never had a chance to accomplish anything in life. No, he would finally get the revenge he´d been hungry for since the day he learned of the Amber Lead´s deadly side-effects.

So what if he´d have to sacrifice his life for Doflamingo one day? Even so, the opportunity still felt like a gift from the Gods.

***

  
  


Three years later Law had completely changed his life around.

Gone were the days of the sickly, bratty child who´d never missed a chance to pick a fight and try to prove himself. Instead, the young man of 16 years now wielded his power with precision and confidence while his body hardly showed traces of his past experiences anymore.

Only if you looked very closely you could make out a faint color-difference in some areas of Law´s tanned skin, but if anyone ever got close enough to notice such details, they probably had a whole lot of different things to worry about anyway.

Despite still being rather young and inexperienced, Law was already entrusted with more and more leadership roles, proving that Doflamingo relied on him and expected good work from the teen.

Spider Miles, the North Blue port town where the kid had first joined the pirate crew, was far behind them now and the Donquixote Pirates were making a name for themselves on the Grand Line, showing up in headlines anytime they arrived at a new island. Doflamingo never held back out of caution and Law appreciated this about his captain´s nature.

What´s the point in being a pirate if you can´t wreak havoc as you please, right?

Law was in a good mood when he stepped onto the wooden planks of Baracoa´s colorful port, quickly getting used to the feeling of solid ground under his feet. Having spent the past years with his pirate crew, he´d started feeling at home at sea as well as on land. Even when landing on a new island, it never took him long to get accustomed.

“Did you take it along, Baby 5?”, he called out, turning back around to the ship and brushing a hand through his coarse hair. He´d already forgotten about the intensity of this summer island´s heat and definitely wasn´t dressed the part, so he at least slipped out of his feather coat, hanging it over his arm for now. Nevertheless, seeing the hills covered in rain-forest beyond the edge of the port town was soothing to him. The Donquixote Pirates had only been staying here for a couple of months so far, but to some degree it already felt familiar. 

“I´m coming! Do I really need to carry this thing though? It´s yours, so why won´t YOU take it?”, Baby 5 complained, holding a treasure chest in her arms and biting her lower lip while her nose scrunched up in distaste.

“What´s the matter now? Are you grossed out?”, he teased her with a grin and turned away from her again without awaiting an answer from the girl. “Let´s go and deliver our present to Doffy.”

While the rest of the small crew was busy tying down the ship and unloading cargo, Law and Baby 5 made their way into the direction of their crew´s current base, walking through narrow streets until they reached one of the mansions in a nicer part of the city which was now deserted thanks to the pirates´ presence. Even though the marines were well-informed about the current status, they made no effort to drive the invaders out.

Typical. 

It took the two just about ten minutes to reach their destination and the grunts at the front door greeted them with hasty nods, allowing Baby 5 and Law to proceed inside.

As previously agreed on via phone call, Doflamingo was already waiting for them in the room that he had claimed for himself, grinning at the sight of his two young crew members when they entered.

“Law… Baby 5. How good to see you two again”, he greeted them, still seated in a comfortable-looking armchair and closing the book that he´d been busy reading up until now.

“Take a seat”, he added and gestured at the couch nearby. Both readily followed the request, but not before the girl had placed the wooden chest onto the low coffee-table that stood between her and Doflamingo.

The captain´s grin didn´t waver when a muffled groan echoed from inside the box, instead he just shifted his glance at Law, who´d already helped himself to a glass and one of the whiskey bottles from the collection that stood on a shelf nearby. 

“You really are cruel, Law. Is that how you think our rivals should be treated?”, he asked the teen with a chuckle, who merely gave a shrug in return and took a sip from his drink.

“Easier to carry him here this way. The rest is still on the ship, don´t worry”, Law then said, but everyone in the room knew why he´d really chosen this macabre display.

Nevertheless, there was no further comment on it and Doflamingo simply unlocked the clasps on the chest before lifting the lid and revealing its content: the severed head of a middle-aged man, mouth taped shut while his eyes squinted against the painfully bright sunlight that flooded the room.

“Fufufufu… Capone Bege. Who would have thought that this is how we´ll meet”, Doflamingo mocked the other, clearly enjoying the sight. Obviously Capone had no chance to counter the condescending reception and he held back from making any further incoherent sounds in an attempt to uphold some kind of dignity. Nevertheless, it was quite obvious how enraged and embarrassed the immobilized pirate captain was, judging by his reddened face.

“I didn’t even have to come and take you out myself! Just two of my youngest subordinates were enough for the job. Guess you really can´t rely on bounties anymore, these days”, he continued before he unceremoniously closed the lid of the box again, which drove Capone mad enough to draw a couple of stifled yells from him after all.

Now it was Law´s turn to let out a laugh as he smiled at Doflamingo across the table. “And you say that I´m the cruel one? I hope you still intend to use him for an interrogation, later. After all I went through all the trouble of getting him here alive”, he then said.

“Of course, otherwise I wouldn´t have asked you to do it”, Doflamingo replied briefly. “I still intend to get some intel out of Capone. Considering the size of his underground network we need to inform ourselves about what enemies we´ve made by disrupting it. But these details can wait. You must be pretty exhausted from the travel, hm?”

Law gave back a vague sound and emptied the glass in his hand before placing it down on the table and stretching his arms above his head. “Not really. This whole mission was easier than expected”, he said, leaning into the backrest of the couch. Despite making that statement he still very much felt the bruises and wounds he had carried away from the attack on the Fire Tank Pirates and Baby 5 let out a quiet snort next to him.

“Yeah right. It only cost us 5 of our men´s lives and 7 more will be out of commission for at least a couple of weeks because of their injuries”, she remarked, only earning a dismissive gesture on Law´s part. “Who cares. You got out of it just fine, didn´t you? And we achieved our goal. You can´t win the game without sacrificing some pawns”, he concluded while Doflamingo quietly observed the exchange with the ever-present smile on his face.

“I have to agree with Law. You took on a risky job of getting rid of Capone on my behalf but I knew that I could trust you. I´m proud of how much you have developed in such a short time”, he gave his praise, causing Baby 5´s cheeks to blush red from happiness while Law just rolled his eyes at her typical reaction.

“Anyway… Baby 5, would you be so kind as to oversee that everything goes smoothly with unloading the ship and treating the injured?”

Both of them were surprised about that request, exchanging a brief glance, but of course Baby 5 quickly got up, straightening her dress. “No problem! You can count on me”, she readily agreed to the task and exited the room.

Law remained silent for now, unsure about the reason behind Doflamingo´s order. He didn´t look upset in any particular way, on the contrary. He´d even say that his captain was in a great mood.

“So…? What is it? And should Capone be listening in? I´m not sure how soundproof that box is”, he spoke up after a few moments of silence, nodding at the chest between them.

“Don´t worry. Whether he hears our conversation or not is irrelevant”, Doflamingo answered, leaning forward and prying his elbows up on his knees as he observed the other.

“You don´t have to look at me with such sceptical eyes. I have good news for you, Law.

I know that you´re still quite young and reckless, but your recent work has done a lot to impress me”, he began.

“As you know yourself, I still haven´t found a proper replacement for the position that… Rocinante used to occupy. Vergo continues to work undercover with the marines and I have no intention to withdraw him from that task just yet.

So therefore – I want to offer you the chance of becoming the next Corazon.”

The revelation left Law staring at Doflamingo in disbelief at first, unable to fully process what had just been said.

Him, the next Corazon? One of the top four commanders? It seemed completely absurd.

“Why me? I don´t even know how long you want to keep me around”, he then replied after a pause, a frown settling on his face at last. “Or am I just supposed to be the stand-in until you find someone else? Until Vergo comes back?”

Law´s tone was sharp and he raised his eyebrow, closely searching for a change in Doflamingo´s expression, but as usual it was impossible to look behind this smile.

“I never heard you complaining about our deal before. Are you starting to regret it?”, the captain just asked, a quiet laugh escaping him. “Besides, I already told you that you still have a decent amount of time left. Relax, Law. I simply want to reward your talent and hard work. Taking down Capone Bege, a major player in the Grand Line´s black market with so little assistance is remarkable.

So? Will you take the offer or not? If you don´t want to, I´m not going to force you”, he renewed the proposal with a hint of impatience in his tone.

“… well, if you really want me in that position, I won´t decline it”, Law agreed, deciding against challenging the other any further, and smirked. If he really thought about it, this wasn´t so bad. As one of the commanders he wouldn´t have to take orders from anyone except Doffy anymore and that idea alone sent a pleasant shiver through his body.

“Good. I´m glad that we´ve come to an agreement, Corazon”, Doflamingo said, sounding quite pleased when he addressed Law with his new title.

“The last person that bore this name disappointed me gravely, but you won´t stab me in the back like that, hm?”

“Of course not, Doffy”, Law responded in a calm tone.

He knew very well that Doflamingo didn´t just blindly trust him. Like a spider in the center of its web he held everyone tied up in his strings, keeping tabs on their every move, and if he ever were to find a reason to doubt his new commander, the consequences could be dire.

Doflamingo gave the other a slow nod.

“I´d expect nothing less of you. Very well then, you are dismissed. I suppose letting our guest wait his turn any longer would be too rude”, the captain concluded the conversation and Law rose up from his seat, walking around the couch and heading for the exit.

The blood was still rushing in his ears when he closed the door behind himself and took a deep breath. This sure was unexepted.

Everything was happening so quickly that he couldn´t help doubting himself for a moment, despite his usual cockiness. Hell, he was just 16. What did he even know about leading people?

Then again, if the captain himself trusted him, he had to be ready for the task.

Moreover, usually things couldn´t happen fast enough for Law, and perhaps Doflamingo could sense that eagerness in him, too.

“Well, this is bound to be fun”, he muttered to himself and started walking towards the exit of the building again, remembering about his belongings that were still left on the ship by the harbour. He probably shouldn´t brag about his new position to Baby 5 though, he figured. Even if he was an impatient guy, he wouldn´t ruin the effect of Doflamingo´s announcement by spreading rumours too early on his own behalf.

“Corazon?”

The sound of Doflamingo calling his name – or well, his title – finally pulls Law out of his trance and he blinks a couple of times to chase away the memories that had clouded his thoughts mere moments ago. 

“Pardon, I just remembered something”, he quickly brushes off his moment of mental absence. At least he hopes that it wasn´t much more than a moment, but judging by the ongoing conversations in the background about Luffy´s latest feat Law guesses that this really is the case.

Focussing back on Doflamingo, he tries to remember what exactly they have been talking about just now and thankfully his memory doesn´t fail him. Straw Hat´s miraculous recovery, right.

“I guess the two of us do have a few things in common”, he agrees with his captain´s earlier statement and shrugs. “But don´t worry, I don´t have any particular sympathies for this guy. The only reason why I saved him is that I thought it´d be a waste if he died at that moment.”

  
“Are you scared that you´ll end up being the next Shichibukai on his hit-list?”, he then asks after a brief pause, playfully raising an eyebrow. “I can do him in for you if that´ll ease your mind.”

However the taunt only earns him a brief laugh from across the table.  
“Is that so? Are you even sure that you could take that kid on? I´m not gonna lie, for his age he is quite impressive. Maybe even better than you were”, Doflamingo replies, looking rather amused himself.

“Now you´re doubting my competence all of a sudden? I thought I was your trusted right-hand man”, Law attempts to reply in a sarcastic manner, but the hint of indignation shines through on his face. As if that reckless, emotionally driven kid could defeat him in a serious fight. The thought almost makes Law laugh and he doesn´t care what other big names Straw Hat Luffy has already taken down in his wake. Losing to him would be completely unacceptable.

“You can leave it to me. If Straw Hat ever becomes a danger- no, a bother to us, I will present his head to you on a silver platter. Dead or alive, whichever you want”, he promises in more earnest now, giving Doflamingo a determined stare while both of them wait in silence. 

“Very well, Corazon. I hope that it won´t be necessary, after all the work you put into patching the boy up, but I´ll keep this in mind”, Doflamingo finally says before picking up his fork again and focussing back on his breakfast. Clearly he doesn´t care to dwell on the hypothetical scenario any longer and honestly Law is just as happy to let it go. 

The whole commotion around the newspaper soon dies down in general and the crew members who had previously gotten up from their chairs return to them now, indulging in other kinds of small talk, but Law can´t help turning thoughtful as he sips on his coffee.

_What a weird turn of events. I wonder what he´s doing right now…_

_Does he really plan to set sail again after everything that happened? Hell… that would be pretty impressive. Who knows, perhaps we will get to meet again in the New World after all, Straw Hat_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More than ever before, Law´s interest is piqued and he eagerly awaits his chance to encounter Straw Hat again. But as the old saying goes: one should always be careful what to wish for. 
> 
> Thanks to everyone for reading my fic ♥  
> The little sketch of Law and Baby 5 was born from procrastination on actually continuing to write, but at least I have some cute decoration for this chapter now


	4. Chapter 4

The submarine´s engines roar at maximum speed as the vessel sinks further into the depth of the ocean and Law paces around the cramped control cabin, making Shachi who is operating the levers and buttons more and more jittery with his behavior.

Everything had happened so damn fast. Not long ago, news of the Strawhats´ unexpected return had echoed around the Grand Line and new wanted posters immediately spread to every tavern and bar, no matter how distant. “Strawhat Luffy back from the Dead!”, “Another Rookie enters the New World” and “Two years after the Summit War - a miraculous comeback” the headlines tried to trump one another for days after the infamous pirate crew had suddenly shown up on Sabaody again, only to disappear back into obscurity - likely on their way to Fishman Island. 

This had happened just a few weeks ago and even though Law didn´t like to admit it, he had been checking the newspaper every day for a new article on the mesmerizing captain. 

To be honest, Law had almost forgotten about him over the course of those past two years. As Doflamingo´s right hand man he had plenty of jobs and problems clogging up his head every day, so aside from rare moments of quiet he barely had time to reminisce about those days shortly after the Battle at Marineford. 

Now, however, his head was filled with nothing but thoughts of Strawhat Luffy and most of them were unfortunately not of the pleasant kind. After all, the first news Law had received on him since his initial comeback came not from a tabloid or a casual chat with a fellow crewmate, but from Doflamingo himself. And when Doflamingo told him, that the Strawhat crew had just trashed the SAD lab on Punk Hazard, despite Monet, Vergo and Caesar Clown himself being present on the island, he was in a less than stellar mood. 

Finally coming to a halt with a sharp clack of his heels, Law faces the glass front of the submarine which opens the sight on the murky blue of the ocean ahead of them. 

“How long until we reach Punk Hazard?”, he asks and comes closer to the control panel, examining the sonar which hasn´t picked up any signals so far. 

“About half an hour. We´re already going at full speed, Corazon”, Shachi assures the other with a forced smile. “Do you really have to be running up and down here right now? It´s driving me crazy”, he gives a tentative remark but receives only a sharp glance in return. This clearly isn´t the best time to test Law´s temper. 

Falling silent, Law finally takes a few steps back after all, knowing fully well that him looming over his subordinate wouldn´t do anything to aid their case.

Instead, he focuses on the task that lies ahead of him. Seemingly simple: stop the Strawhat Pirates and retrieve Caesar Clown. Of course Doflamingo insisted that he´d take care of this on his own, just as Law had promised long ago after rescuing Luffy from his imminent death. 

Not that he minds this condition. He would have chosen to head out by himself if he´d had the choice, so at the end of the day there really is nothing to be mad about. 

_It´s good that I´ve been keeping track and reading up on them. They may be strong, but taking them off guard might just give me the edge over them that I need_ he thinks, going through the information he had on every Strawhat in his mind. 

The best course of action is to teleport onto their ship and grab Caesar before swiftly returning back to the submarine. They won´t even know what hit them when the torpedos rip their ship apart and sink them to the bottom of the sea. 

Obviously, Law is aware that this is just the idealized version of the plan that probably won´t play out exactly as he imagines it. Plans rarely go as intended and no amount of preparation can change this fact - not that Law had had any time to prepare for this in the first place. 

Still, even with all the tension of getting the job done well, Law feels himself getting impatient for the encounter. Things on Dressrosa have been getting rather stale for a while, so this new challenge is more than welcome to him. 

“Corazon!”

Shachi´s voice rings through the cabin and Law´s eyes dart to the pilot who´s waving him closer to the control panel. “Something´s shown up on the sonar, 200 meters ahead of us. It´s likely to be the Strawhats”, he says, sending a shiver up Law´s spine. 

“They´re fast. We aren´t even close to reaching Punk Hazard yet… Anyway, take us closer up to the surface, but keep us hidden. This needs to be a surprise attack” - “Aye!”

The rise to the surface puts an uncomfortable pressure on Law´s ears, but he barely notices it over the excitement that rummages in his chest. For some reason the thought of potentially meeting Luffy face to face again is making his skin tingle. 

He would love to taunt the kid for a while, maybe even test the limits of the strength, but he knows that this time he can´t allow himself any free range on the matter. He´ll be in and out in the matter of moments. Chances of catching a glimpse at the pirate captain are honestly rather slim. 

“70 meters now”, another announcement reaches him and Law knows that the other ship is within his range now, even though his power is weakened by the influence of the ocean all around. 

“Good. Make sure to track them at roughly the same distance and stay hidden.” The blue sphere of Room engulfs his hand and fills the cabin with a quiet hum, a dangerous and eerie sound. “Prepare the missiles. We can´t afford to miss. The moment that I´m back on the submarine with Caesar, you obliterate them” 

When this final order was given, the Room instantly expands well beyond the boundaries of the submarine and amidst the countless sea creatures that Law senses in his forcefield, he soon spots the location of his target. Twelve people are present - no doubt the nine Strawhats and their prisoner being among them, he figures and without wasting any more time he makes the switch.

For the blink of an eye, everything melts into a blue blur and then-

He is on the ship. 

Grass rustles underneath his heels and a cold gust of wind blows into his face as Law swiftly spins around to gauge the situation. He almost needs to shield his eyes from the blinding sun, so much brighter than the lamps on his submarine, but through fluttering lids he still manages to make out the details of the ship he´d landed on. 

A huge mast towers behind him with the Thousand Sunny´s sails billowing above and Law realizes that he landed right in the center of the deck. Quickly, he focuses on locating the pirates scattered across the deck of the ship.

Somebody appears to be busy tinkering on whatever contraption up on the elevated area nearby the figurehead, based on the sound of a hammer hitting metal, but Law can barely even make out the back of the person´s head from his current angle. 

By the railing of the ship, a man is napping in the sun, the three swords carefully lined up next to him and immediatiely giving him away as Pirate Hunter Zoro.

A woman with long black hair - Devil Child Nico Robin - sits at a folding table with a book in her hand, suddenly dropping it when she spots the stranger just a few meters away from her and she isn´t the only one staring. When Law shifts his gaze back to the swordsman, he is no longer sleeping and reaches for his blades instead.

“Who the hell- oi, where did you come from?”, a blond man - Law isn´t quite sure who this is supposed to be - yells at the stranger, just having exited a cabin carrying an artfully decorated milkshake on a tray, which now lands on the floor with the jarring noise of shattering glass. 

But before he or anyone else can take a step closer, Law feels several pairs of arms wrapping around him. Slender and feminine, but strong nonetheless they are about to bend his spine to a painful degree, surely having snapped it in half if Law hadn´t switched himself with the noisy chef shouting at him. 

Robin immediately releases the hold on her crewmate with a gasp, but Sanji doesn´t even look too mad as he collapses on the ground, having lost his balance. 

“Stop right where you are!”, a different voice now reaches Law and his gaze halts on a long-nosed man - Sogeking? - pointing an oddly shaped slingshot square at his face from the raised deck while the previous hammering sounds had ceased. There´s a slight tremble in his tone, but his eyes are filled with resolve. 

“Everyone! There´s an enemy on the ship!”

Of course Law had expected the situation to turn chaotic, but this doesn´t make it any easier to deal with the multiple attacks being launched at him. The only way he can dodge them is by using his devil fruit power to make the Strawhats crash into each other any time they think they´re about to land a hit. 

Then he spots his target: Caesar Clown. 

A miserable sight to behold for sure, wrapped up in chains and crouching underneath the tree - wow they really have a tree on their ship, huh? - but his eyes widen in recognition as well when he sees the familiar face. 

“Corazon?! Did Joker send you for me?! Oh thank God!”, he exclaims in a shrill voice, trying to get up from the ground, but all he manages is to trip and land face first in the grass. 

_What an idiot_ Law thinks, rolling his eyes, and charges in Caesar´s direction, but before he can lay a hand on him, a long - ridiculously long - arm crosses his vision, followed by the rest of the Strawhat captain´s body and he´s barely able to duck away from the following punch, rolling himself off and jumping back to his feet. 

“Hey, where the hell did you come from?! Who are you?”, Luffy growls, narrowing his eyes and grabbing Caesar by the collar of his coat while his other hand forms into a fist. 

“You won´t get this guy, forget about it!”

Clicking his tongue, Law curses his own slowness and reaches into his coat to grab the scalpels tucked inside. He flings them at the rubber man, but Luffy manages to dodge them even while dragging the dead weight of Caesar along with every leap.

“Swift on your feet, aren´t you?” 

Law flicks his finger and the scalpels come rushing back at his opponent, chasing him wherever he runs, but just as he´s starting to enjoy himself he can sense the other crew members approaching. 

Zoro slashes his swords at him, clearly holding back to avoid damage to the ship, but Law still breaks a sweat when the glistening steel almost slices him in half. 

The crew starts coordinating with each other, realizing that trying to catch Law without strategy would result in nothing but a senseless game of whack-a-mole, when suddenly Luffy´s voice cuts through the chaos:

“Wait, I remember you! You´re that guy- from…” 

His voice trails off for a moment, but his round eyes widen even further, drilling into Law. One can almost see the gears turning in his head as his jaw drops and the rest of his crew stop in their tracks as well, made insecure by this kind of reaction. 

“Stop him from getting Caesar, but don´t kill him!”, Luffy orders not even a second later, his eyes still set on the enemy. “And get the Sunny ready to fly!” 

Although Law isn´t sure what to make of this statement, he sees his chance and uses shambles once more to switch his position with Luffy´s, meaning that now he has a direct grip on Caesar, ready to book it, but the crew has picked up on his tricks faster than expected and before he can make another move he feels Robin´s limbs wrapping around him again, wrestling his own arms behind his back while his target is being dragged out of his reach by countless hands sprouting on the lawn.

“Argh- fuck!”, he curses under his breath, a sharp pain shooting through his shoulders that almost got dislocated thanks to the rough handling, but the next second he´s already distracted by the blade that´s held up to his neck, lightly pricking his skin. 

“You better stop moving now or I don´t know if I´ll stick to captain´s orders”, the first mate warns him, his eye narrowing as he examines the man before him. "I´m starting to remember you too. You were on Sabaody back then… weren´t you? Why does Luffy give you special treatment?”, he asks, cocking his head to the side. 

“Why don´t you ask your captain directly?”, Law retorts, trying to keep the anguish out of his voice, but the corners of his mouth still twitch when Robin tightens her hold on him some more. 

The battle has been short, but this much use of his powers has exhausted Law, so he grants himself a short breather while he searches for a way out of his situation. Perhaps he had underestimated the crew after all. They adapted to the surprise attack way faster than he´d thought. 

“Where did you come from, anyway?”, Zoro switches to a different topic, displeased with the enemy´s cocky attitude. “You´re one of Doflamingo´s men, aren´t you? There is no ship anywhere to be seen, though”, he remarks, but is met only with silence, so the chokehold on Law increases, making him gasp out a pained noise while he kneels in the grass. 

However, before the interrogation can continue, a shout from the helm grabs everyone´s attention: “The Sunny is ready to go!”

“Here, I brought some spare shackles!” Usopp yells, running up to the group, but before he can reach them Law finally regains enough focus to make one more switch, freeing himself both from Zoro and Robin, even though his bones still feel cracked from the torture. 

“Three!”

Letting his eyes wander in search of Caesar, he suddenly catches Luffy´s glance as the captain stands by the helm of the ship, a smirk on his face. For a moment he forgets what his target is. 

“Two!”

“Sorry, we gotta go. You better get off, or you´ll miss your chance.” 

“One!”

“I´ll return the favor some other time, okay?”

“GO!”

An overwhelming noise erupts from the Thousand Sunny and the floorboards underneath Law´s feet start to rumble. Apparently “getting ready to fly” was by no means a metaphor, as he starts to realize. 

Caesar has disappeared out of sight again, there is no time left to try and grab the damn idiot, Law thinks gloomily and focusses back on the submarine which thankfully stayed in the range of his Room. 

“Shambles”, he mutters, his words getting lost in the uproar, and everything flashes blue again before he lands back in the dusky control room of the sub, his legs shaky from the amount of energy that this move has drained from him once more. 

“Corazon!”, Shachi exclaims, shooting a glance at his boss, and immediately spins back around to the control panel - only to notice that the signal on his sonar has disappeared without a trace. 

“H-Hah? Where are they?!” 

“Sorry… we missed our chance”, Law admits through gritted teeth and staggers closer to let himself drop down an empty chair next to Shachi. “They took off with their ship. Don´t ask me how it works, but the fact that they´re out of reach for our sonar means that they got pretty far. Turn us back around to Dressrosa.”

Shachi gives him a confused glance, but quickly gets to work, adjusting their course and raising the speed. 

“Do they have Caesar?” 

“Yeah. I wasn´t able to get him, but there´s still time”, Law mutters, distracted, raking the fingers of one hand through his hair. The flashing, chaotic images from the Sunny´s deck still fill up his mind and he can´t help remembering the carefree expression on Strawhat´s face. 

_“I´ll return the favor some other time, okay?”_

A crooked smile tugs at the corners of Law´s lips while he thinks about this line and stares into the depth of the ocean through the window in front of him. “That guy has a lot of guts”, he mutters only for himself to hear. 

Saying something like that to his enemy? He won´t let himself be taken so easy.

  
Next time they meet, he promises to himself, heads are going to roll. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wahoo, we´ve reached chapter 4 and I have officially run out of backlog for this story. So yeah... expect a longer break until the next chapter :´)   
> The prospect of writing the events on Dressrosa intimidates me but I´ll do my best to push through.


End file.
